Greetings fellow entities of the Internet! I’m stormguard798, and normally you come here for some mediocre gameplay recaps or a deck-tech on the 3rd best thing you could be doing in any given format. But today, today I am speaking to you, not in the capacity of an Eternal player, but as the commissioner of the Friend of Eternal (FE) Fantasy League for the 2021 season. Do you like treating people as if they’re just numbers, letters and symbols on a spreadsheet in a way that’s only slightly demeaning? In that case, you have come to the right place.
For anyone unfamiliar with how the FE Fantasy League works, you will draft a total of 6 players – 5 active players and 1 substitute – and after the conclusion of each Eternal Open, you’ll score points based on how well those players do in the Open. In between Opens, you are free to swap players with other team ‘owners’ or from the ‘Free Agent’ pool in and out of your teams. At the end of it, the person with the most points will win bragging rights and literally nothing else. But it’s fun.
For anybody interested in joining the Fantasy League, you will unfortunately only be able to draft players who are currently not on an existing team, which means that a large number of prominent Eternal personalities have already been taken. However, there are still plenty of excellent players just waiting to be snapped up; out of everyone who is still available, who do I think has the best chance of rising to the top in the upcoming season?
(Listed in no particular order, but vaguely grouped for ease of reading )
EnclaveCryptologist – I most famously know them for the Skycrag Krull Drone Room that LOA popularised a while back, but they’ve also had their hands in quite a few popular archetypes, including the original build of Xenan Reanimator. One of the few free agents with the distinction of having previously been on a fantasy team, their creative deck-building has them well poised to destroy at many Eternal Opens – if they can stop it with the witty comebacks to everyone in Discord first, that is.
Kasendrith – Despite being a prominent streamer who primarily focuses on Limited gameplay, Kasendrith secured their qualification at last year’s Worlds through the Constructed LCQ. Now with even more Limited qualification chances and armed with strong technical gameplay across both formats, they were well-positioned to run it back and secure a spot at the 2021 Worlds.
Gunner116 – Full disclosure: I don’t draft very often in Eternal. But all my friends that do tell me that Gunner116 is 1 of the strongest drafters out there – and for good reason, given that they won the 2020 Eternal Draft Championship and are consistently Rank 1 on the ladder. I haven’t seen them play much constructed other than at Worlds, but you know what they say: Limited is the best format if you want to get better at the game. And Gunner has some strong chops.
AlcideBava – AlcideBava has had an absolutely phenomenal rookie season – or should I say rookie quarter because they have made 3 Day 2s in just 3 months. This time round, with a whole season full of Opens to qualify for, I expect they’re going to give even established veterans a good run for their money in terms of Top 64 qualifications.
[TBC] Mail – Previously unable to compete for personal reasons, one of TBC’s newest members and an active member in the Eternal community is ready to step out of just wrecking community tournaments and show everyone how lucky they’ve had it up until now.
[TBC] Frafa – Whilst not necessarily having the same kind of community clout as the rest of their team, Frafa is still a fantastic technical player – and has the stats to prove it. Hopefully this season they can convert those inevitable top finishes into a Worlds qualification.
[TEJ] Jedi_EJ, Johnholio and darth_herman – Am I perhaps a little biased here, considering that they’re my teammates? Possibly, but they create a very successful podcast focused entirely on playing Limited, and having played many of their decks, that knowledge extends very well into constructed deck building.
[TEJ] iplongno – ‘Team Killer’. ‘Triple Threat’. ‘That guy who makes my crappy decks better’. Regardless of how you know him, when you see his username across the screen from you, you know you’re in for a good fight. Having barely missed out on several Day 2 qualifications in that last season, Ip is looking for just a pinch more luck this season to steamroll their way to a Worlds slot.
[TRS] noverb – Though they haven’t been as active as before, when they do pop back in it’s as if they never left, Top 8’ing the EJ Peasant Tournament and rocking the TNE Team Showcase. When the Eternal Opens bring noverb back, they’re going to prove to us newbies just how much of a force they are be reckoned with.
[The Misplay] Gatosujo – The person with the best hair on the Misplay podcast, gato is an extremely creative deckbuilder and an incredibly diligent player (Seriously. I’ve heard stories about the number of games they grind for The Misplay meta.) and is poised to break out with some top-notch results in the upcoming season.
[The Misplay] Essarefess – Though 2 Worlds slots might be closed off to the TO of the community TNE series, multi-talented Essarefess proves that they’ve got the technical play to roll with the best of them when they’re not helping out with pretty much everything in the Eternal community (Seriously? How!?), and are at present running away with the lead in the TNT tournament series.
[TIL] applechips – A Worlds 2020 competitor and the #1 seed going into the Winter Invitational having qualified themselves 3 times over, applechips is a fearsome deck-builder and player and I fully expect them to similarly demolish the competition at upcoming Eternal Opens.
[WSG] Spiffirific – The winner of the Eternal Journey Peasant tournament earlier this year, the runner-up at the recent TNE Winter Invitational, and plenty of Day 2 qualifications in the 2020 season, spiffirific have amply demonstrated that they have everything it takes to win an Eternal Open and secure that slot at 2021 Worlds.
[TNT] LordPerth – Though I mostly know them for their intricate and innovative decks over on Eternal Warcry, LordPerth has proven to be a fearsome competitor both in ECQs and on the Top 100 leaderboard, and I fully expect them to repeat their performance with some spectacularly spicy decks in 2021.
IlyaK1986 – A very vocal and active community member who has had numerous popular decks on Eternal Warcry, this stalwart of the community is once again looking for some strong finishes in 2021 OP and hopefully do 1 match better this time around to secure their Worlds slot.
[ET] finkel – Granted, I don’t know much about finkel, but the stats don’t lie (thanks, Eternal History Project!), and finkel has had the most Day 2s in the 2020 season out of everyone that is not at present on a fantasy team with 9. Having seen their play at the TNE Team Showcase, I fully expect them to be capable of repeating such a feat in the upcoming Season.
So that’s my guide and suggestions for who to draft in the upcoming 2021 FE Fantasy League season. If this sounds like something that would pique your interest, head on over to the FE server and find the full set of details in the #fefl-news channel. Is there someone that I missed? Is there someone you don’t think is worthy of being on this list? Scream at me on Twitter @stormguard798, in the FE, TEJ or The Misplay Discords, or right here, on Reddit where I post now. Apparently. (shrug) Until next time. 😉
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